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Thursday, August 28, 2008

5 Questions for the Creators: Mr. Woycheck

5 Questions. 5 little questions. In this, our 11th installment of the series, it is a huge honor to have this man on my blog. If you live in Pittsburgh and read blogs, you know this man. He is one of our fearless leaders in the community and a great guy to be around. Ladies and gents, the newly crowned, Papa Woy, Mike Woycheck!

1. Tell us about who you are and what it is you do.

My name is Mike Woycheck and I'm a native of Erie, Pennsylvania. I've lived in Pittsburgh for 7 years, and have been in the technology industry for over 10 years. I'm currently a technology analyst with Innovation Works as part of the AlphaLab technology incubator. I'm also the founder of WearPittsburgh, a localized t-shirt apparel website that celebrates Pittsburgh.

Socialmedia is a hobby and a passion, and I've been fortunate to incorporate it into my work as well as my personal life.

2. Why did you get into social media?

My start with social media came in the early part of the decade as a reader of technology blogs. Often, there were very useful pieces of informations and valuable resources available there that helped improve my use of various technologies. After moving to Pittsburgh in 2001, I started becoming increasingly curious if there were others in Pittsburgh that were blogging. After beginning to catalog Pittsburgh blogs, I came into contact with a group of women who had the same idea at the same time. We (the Cabal) in turn started Pittsburgh Bloggers in 2004 and the rest is history...

3. What is it that you love about social media?

I love the people more than anything else. Through social media I've been able to not only meet a wide-range of individuals with varying interests and ideas... but I've also been able to meet great friends. I've learned so much from many of my peers in the ways of how to write/produce, resources to use, and methods to create. The whole nature of social media is about creation and self-expression. It's a way to create your own platform of communication that is uninterrupted and uncensored.

On a more personal note, I can't say enough about the Pittsburgh social media community. In the midst of my wife's recent difficulties with her pregnancy, everyone was so wonderful in their supportive comments, e-mails, and delivery of food upon her return home from the hospital (thanks to Cindy and Norm!) And, when the baby arrived, everyone continues to be so nice in welcoming our baby into the world. They're all very wonderful people.

4. What keeps you coming back? Why do you keep creating content?

#3 really keeps me coming back, but also the encouragement I receive about blogging. I've always said that I'm a much better reader than a writer, but I feel that if I don't write I'd be the biggest social media poser ever. It's always when I'm about to walk away and forget about blogging that I'll receive a comment that says, "You really should blog more" or "I really loved that post about x!" It's kept me going and kept me inspired to create material.

5. What is it that you want to accomplish with your media?

To continue to broaden my social relationships and creative knowledge through the contacts I make through social media. I also want to continue to grow as a person through the expression(s) I make through blogging and my company WearPittsburgh. WearPittsburgh was an accomplishment in and of itself because it was built primarily through the relationships I made in the social media community. Everything from the website to the legal services to the artwork/designs came about through those relationships.

I've accomplished more than I ever planned to... and I hope it continues to exceed my expectations.

Its been great learning about so many wonderful people in the social media world. I would love to continue on with 5 Questions but I cant do it alone. What I'm looking for is YOU. Bloggers, podcasters, if your part of the new media world and want to be interviewed I would be thrilled to have you. Shoot me an email at 8bit.hero37@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you soon.